The Albee (shown here in 1947) was renowned for offering far more than movies. The house itself was always part of the show, but then there were Vaudeville-style performers and big bands, not to mention a 22-piece house orchestra called the Albee Entertainers. Enquirer archives

Bob Barwich starts to take apart the stained glass window above the entrance to the Albee Theater in downtown Cincinnati. Barwich and Tom Troup expect to spend three days taking the window apart before the theater is torn down to make way of an office building complex. AP Photo/Brian Horton

MARCH 9, 1977: Bee Is For Bent - And Begone: The sign from the Albee Theater touches ground Wednesday, 3/9/77, probably for the first time since the grand entertainment palace was built in the late 1920as. Initial exterior demolition began Wednesday. The marquee was dismantled and this two-story sign was removed and lowered by crane. The theater and neighboring buildings south of Fountain Square will be torn down for Fountain Square South. The facade will be saved, city officials say. Enquirer archives/Bob Free

The 1986 expansion as the Dr. Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center included the arch saved from the old Albee Theater as a nod to the city's history. JUNE 6, 1986: A construction worker finishes a white marble entranceway bearing the name of Dr. Albert B. Sabin, a former Cincinnati resident credited with developing the Sabin live polio vaccine, on the new addition of the Cincinnati Convention Center. The entranceway on the south side of the building was saved from the old Albee Theater, which had been razed for the new Western Hotel. Associated Press file/David Kohl

Organ Restorer Ron Wehmeier, plays Cincinnati's historic 1927 Mighty Wurlitzer organ from the old Albee Theater. The organ is being installed in Music Hall's ballroom, after a 9-year search to find a new home, at Music Hall in Over The Rhine the afternoon of August 18, 2009. Enquirer file/Amie Dworecki

Cincinnati's historic Mighty Wurlitzer organ from the old Albee Theater, which is being installed in Music Hall's ballroom, after a 9-year search to find a new home, at Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine the afternoon of August 18, 2009. Enquirer file/Amie Dworecki